Archive for August, 2013

The silence is deafening from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pic) and his office as his government marks its 100th day in office, a stark contrast from his reformist style in 2009.

Singapore daily, Straits Times, in a special report today said that Najib’s silence on a variety of issues, ranging from the spate of violent crime to increasing religious tension, was very different from when he first assumed office.

Four years ago, by the time he racked up 100 days in office, Najib introduced broad spectrum reforms, from lifting bans on two opposition newspapers to toll discounts for frequent highway users.

Broad plans were laid out for the public, including the introduction of the National Key Result Area strategies to combat crime, corruption and raise education standards.

Although he won plaudits for his bold and incisive reforms despite facing opposition from within his own party, the results of the 13th general election was a setback.

The upcoming Umno general assembly is also another reason Najib seems to be missing his spark and can-do spirit, some observers speculated.

After the general election, the government seems intent on polarising our society further by communalising issues. Tanda Putera seems to be set in this trend.

COMMENT

By Kua Kia Soong

I do not intend to pay to watch Tanda Putera since the government has already used part of our money to sponsor this film which seems intent on spreading untruths and enhancing polarisation instead of promoting truth and reconciliation.

My response to the film is based on published reviews of the film on the online press.

Who orchestrated the May 13 pogrom?

From the reviews of the film, the Chinese are depicted as the aggressors, insensitive to the extent of urinating on a flag pole outside the residence of the then state menteri besar Harun Idris, hurting the feelings of Malays and thus triggering the May 13 race riots.

The communists are also portrayed as having a hand in the troubles.

I am surprised that in spite of my having produced references in my 2007 title, the director insists on putting the blame on the communists:

“…as late as May 29 (the Tunku) was still voicing his conviction that communists had been behind the trouble… But on the same day, Tun Dr Ismail was admitting that he had been wrong to ascribe the riots to the communists, and during the New Zealand Defence Minister’s visit on May 30 and 31, the Tunku admitted that the earlier accusations had been incorrect. Three days later, Tan Sri Ghazali followed suit…” (Kua Kia Soong, May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian riots of 1969, 2007:51)

This can be easily corroborated by checking up on all the official wires on the dates I have quoted, a standard practice of any respectable scholar.

This film maker does not bother with such basic SOP of research. She (the director) is more interested in the “creative licence” (sic) to orchestrate the scene of the Chinese youth urinating on the flagpole outside the Selangor menteri besar’s residence.

After the 13th general election, the government seems intent on polarising our society further by communalising issues. It’s payback time, as some observers have also pointed out. Tanda Putera seems to be set in this trend.
…

For a start, truth seeking Malaysians should boycott the film.

We also call upon Finas (National Film Development Corporation) to justify to all taxpayers why their money should be used to spread untruths which are costly to national reconciliation.

I’ve said before that Najib Razak is a prime minister who does things by halves. Now there’s talk that he’s going to junk his ‘1Malaysia’ slogan for a new one. Online news website The Malaysian Insider reported this on August 21, based on information from sources. If it turns out to be true, I’ll be able to say that Najib is also a prime minister who doesn’t see things through.

A brand needs time to be developed. Najib’s ‘1Malaysia’ has been around for only four years, and that’s not long enough to win it acceptance and pulling power. Work has to be done to imbue it with more substance – work that includes making Malaysia a truly inclusive nation, which wholeheartedly embraces all its races, religions, cultures, languages without placing any above the rest – so that in the longer run, it can come to be trusted. If Najib discards it for a new slogan, it would show that he’s not willing to put in the work; he has no staying power.

And what might that new slogan be? How more potent will it appear? How more meaningful? If you haven’t heard it yet, hold on to your seats. Just in case you fall off laughing. Or faint. It’s called “Endless Possibilities”!

Many Malaysians will be wondering what it means. “Possibilities” is a big word. It’s also an abstract word. You can’t picture anything when you come across it. It also has five syllables, which is not appropriate for any slogan. Combine that with “endless” and the meaning is even more abstract. Not only that, it sounds pompous.

And of course it’s vague. But then vagueness seems to cohere with what Najib prefers. Last year, he reportedly said of ‘1Malaysia’, “I didn’t define the concept very clearly, but that was by design.” He said he wanted to give it an “element of strategic ambiguity” so that it could take in other views, including those from the public.

Perhaps his advisers told him to say that, but it doesn’t sound like good advice. One would think a slogan that has something concrete to impart works better. ‘Bersih, cekap dan amanah’ (Clean, efficient and trustworthy) which Mahathir Mohamad touted during his early years as prime minister may not be the best of examples, but at least it was something that people could relate to. His successor Abdullah Badawi’s ‘Work with me, not for me’ also made some earthy sense, even though it was also broad.

But ‘Endless Possibilities’ … what endless possibilities?

As a slogan per se, it’s lame. It’s not action-oriented. Compared to it, ‘1Malaysia’ has at least a semblance of concreteness. It symbolises an ideal state – of national unity and racial harmony, even equality. ‘Endless Possibilities’ connotes something airy-fairy. It doesn’t convey certainty, only what may be.

Calls for the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) grew louder yesterday following the Inspector-General of Police’s statement that police will do what it takes to protect the public.

IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, in defending his men on the shootout in Penang on Monday where five suspected thugs were killed, had said that police did not practice the “shoot-to-kill” policy but had a duty to protect Malaysians.

“We don’t care, we have a duty to carry out, and we will carry it out to ensure that Malaysians are safe,” he shot back at critics who claimed that the five men were shot “execution style”.

Human rights lawyer N Surendran (pic) said such shootings must be put to an end immediately.

“This incident further strengthens the call to set up the IPCMC,” he told The Malaysian Insider today.

“The police are daring enough to do this because they know they cannot be held accountable. So, the only way to stop this is to set up the IPCMC.”

He said he was also shocked at Khalid’s statement, saying it was arrogant of the IGP.

“He thinks that the police are doing this to protect the public but they are not. They are actually endangering the public,” Surendran said.

The Election Commission refused to promise to clean up the electoral rolls before beginning the delineation exercise, despite being asked several times by Bersih’s co-chair Datuk S. Ambiga during a forum today.

Wan Ahmad, Ambiga and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar were discussing if the first-past-the-post electoral process was past its prime in Malaysia.

However, Wan Ahmad updated the forum on what the EC had been doing about cleaning the rolls.

“We will give priority to cleaning up the electoral rolls before the EC begins the redelineation process,” Wan Ahmad said, adding that the EC had heard the complaints and grouses of the public, especially claims that there were 10 names registered at a single address.

Wan Ahmad revealed that a workshop had been organised in Shah Alam to thrash out all the issues plaguing the commission related to the electoral rolls and to submit recommendations.

“If the recommendations are too many, we may consider alternative actions including proposing new registration laws in Parliament before the next general election,” he said.

Earlier this month, Ambiga had said the electoral watchdog will launch Bersih 4.0 if the commission proceeds with its delineation of parliamentary and state constituency boundaries before cleaning up the electoral rolls.

Since the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah began early this year, numerous witnesses have testified on Project IC, where illegal immigrants were allegedly issued identity cards indiscriminately to boost the Barisan Nasional vote bank in the state.

Witnesses such as former Sandakan district officer Hassnar Ebrahim, former senator Dr Chong Eng Leong and Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming have told the RCI about immigrants being registered on the electoral rolls after they received their identity cards.

Ambiga asked Wan Ahmad at least five times for a promise that the EC would clean up the rolls before carrying out the delineation process.

She said it was completely unacceptable for the delineation exercise to be carried out based on the 2013 electoral rolls as it was flawed.